Scratching the Heart
by Meteor Beat
Summary: Kukaku had seen it coming, she had warned Yoruichi, but she never listened and now has to suffer the consequences. What will the goddess of flash do now that Ichigo had scratched her heart and left his mark? Do the same. Through Their Eyes. Ichi/Yoru


_Welcome, welcome all to this new piece of the Through Their Eyes _series,_ this time the turn is to the dark skinned princess, Yoruichi, one of the more famous characters in Bleach._

_As most of you already now I try to work with things other people haven't, in this case I'll try to do something about the portrayal that some authors have done of this goddess; it seems people think of her as a whore or something like that, so, anyway, I'll try to do something about it in this new one-shot._

_Also, this story happens after all that thing with Ichigo loosing his powers, but, but, it completely ignores all that Xcution thing. _

_Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of neither the characters, settings or the whole world, long live Tite Kubo!_

**_Scratching the Heart _**

Inhaling from the long pipe, seating down while thinking about the strange people residing right now in her home, Shiba Kukaku had time to think, to reminiscence about the past and also, to think about the future of the youngsters.

The firework expert tilted slightly her head after sensing the approach of a very good friend of hers, someone who she haven't been able to talk with at all for more than a century; Kukaku also knew that the black cat wanted to talk with her because why else she would have been capable of sensing the approach of the goddess of flash?

"So, what do you think of them?" the voice could fool everyone that didn't knew personally the dark skinned woman, probably she was keeping that secret for later on and finally surprise the ryoka band that was right now training.

"You are one lucky cat Yoruichi; I'm not quite sure how you do it but you always find the most outrageous people, those four lunatics are not common, that is for sure" The woman said while her grin grew thinking about the young people that wanted to invade Seireitei.

"That's one way to look at it… do you think they'll be able to do it?"

"You wouldn't have brought them here if you thought they would die or simply fail, they'll keep trying and succeed… although" Kukaku said with something on her mind.

"What is it?" the cat narrowed her eyes into slits; she knew that her friend had something in her mind and would probably go into details.

"Just thinking… they all have something different and fill a role in the group"

"Go on" Yoruichi, and in that case Urahara, was an expert in sizing up other people's abilities, it was crucial when you were a captain of the thirteen divisions, but Kukaku had only been interacting with her pupils since they arrived at this dimension, she had her own opinion about them.

"That boy, Sado, he sure doesn't seem Japanese that's for sure; he is quiet, calm, I wish Ganju could learn one or two things from him; Ishida is another quiet boy, but he sure has a perfect reiatsu control; and with Orihime, well, that girl is sweet… but don't let her close to the kitchen" Yoruichi chuckled at the image of Inoue cooking her weird plethora of recipes, she was probably the only person capable of eating her own cooking "but… Ichigo…" Kukaku stopped at the name and instead of following up simply took a drag from her favorite pipe letting the smoke travel to the roof, it was obvious from her eyes that she was deep thinking and it made Yoruichi curious.

"What about him?"

"Ichigo… he is interesting; his reiatsu control sucks, if it were anyone else I would send him back to wherever he came from, but is obvious he didn't know a thing since he became a shinigami"

"Whatever Ichigo learned has been because of his fights, he learns on the way, and besides, Sado has to concentrate his reiatsu to shoot it like a cannon; Ishida is a quincy so he had years of practice; and Orihime has fewer reiatsu than the other two so it gets easier to control… Ichigo has too much, in less than a year he has grown to be as strong as a lieutenant but with enough refining, well, he could even defeat a captain"

"Ne, Yoruichi, I wasn't referring to that" Kukaku said with a mysterious smile while reclining against her pillows in the wooden floor "I said that if it were anyone else, but Ichigo is not normal, I wouldn't even believe that he was in fact still alive the first time I saw him"

"Reminded you of Kaien?"

"Nah, he only had to open his mouth… no, is something else" Kukaku said looking up at the ceiling while the smile melted "that boy has something, he is way too hardheaded, a fool, and yet he tries as hard as he can to get into Seireitei and save one single shinigami"

"For what I've seen, Ichigo was born to protect, pure and simple, he doesn't ant power for himself, but for to help others, and in the end he will say he did just because, he has an extremely big and foolish tough image to protect"

"An a very weird aura"

"What?"

"Haven't you felt it Yoruichi? Just being around him, haven't you noticed that it makes you feel different? Look at the people coming along with him; they are not here just because of that imprisoned shinigami. They came to this other world to help Ichigo, no matter how many excuses they give, they came because of him… even you" Kukaku said almost like an ultimatum making the cat wonder about her words.

"I came because they needed a guide"

"You came here because you wanted to help Ichigo… that the other kids needed your help was an extra. Just be honest and accept it Yoruichi; that guy is deep inside your skin, and it will only get worse the more time you spend helping him"

"I can assure you that the boy is really amusing, but I only came here because what Seireitei is doing is wrong, besides, there is something weird happening inside the thirteen divisions" even though Yoruichi was sometimes playful she knew when not to step a line, Ichigo was only a boy and didn't need more craziness on top of everything else, she only wanted to help him get stronger so he could repay the favor to Rukia. On the other side of the room Kukaku only smiled again.

"You can say all you want Yoruichi, but I know I'm really grateful to only be in the company of that blockhead for a couple of days, I woe what would happen to you, goddess of flash"

"Don't start with that Kukaku; Ichigo will only be a disciple"

"Will he be only your disciple? Keep thinking like that an soon you will find yourself falling for a boy ten times younger than yourself... whatever" Kukaku said taking away the strained atmosphere of the room in a second while standing up "seems that it is a beautiful night, maybe I'll take a walk around" the woman said letting her good old friend thinking about those words.

For her part, the ex-captain of the second division was sure of her own intentions and probably Kukaku had seen things that weren't there; sure, she was playful and with Ichigo a lot of funny things could happen, maybe she would tease him a little but no one would get inside her heart. A few minutes later she forgot the conversation when she felt the reiatsu of Ichigo grow, he had finally done it and the invasion would start soon, neither friend remembered what they talked about that night, bit it sure came back to bite the dark skinned woman.

/

And she knew it well, oh, how she knew it now; she have been a fool for not believing at the beginning, but the only person who could be blamed on this was none other than Yoruichi itself.

Yoruichi blamed herself for making the advice of Kukaku enter one ear and go out the other one without even thinking that the fireworks expert was onto something when she talked with her, now, seeing where she was Yoruichi couldn't deny it anymore.

She had it bad.

There was no other way.

She felt stupid, the boy was just a teenager, it was truth that he have seen what others haven't in hundreds of years, he died, returned from dead, lost close people, and yet, he kept on, never looking back and finally burying the regrets of his childhood.

But Yoruichi couldn't quite control what she felt; pride of being his teacher, pain because she couldn't help him when he had lost his powers… and shame because she knew she wasn't right for him.

The woman who had teased him constantly when they wanted to rescue Rukia was in the end the one who couldn't quite forget that time, now she felt old and foolish.

Standing up from the futon Yoruichi went to the mirror hanging up over the dresser; she was more than a century older than the orange haired vizard and it was too late now to simply turn her back onto the man who gave everything to save his friends and family.

"Look at me now, what would Kukaku say? Maybe she'll start screaming I told you so while trying to kick me into the floor; should have listened to ya" thinking about that time she knew she had very few other choices, it was that or Ichigo would have died, as simple as that.

Shrugging her shoulders, the Shihouin princess knew that the problem with finally admitting what she felt was that she couldn't bottle up the feelings again, the genie was out of the bottle, and now she could only act.

She wasn't a fool, Ichigo wasn't exactly a boy (_man_, she quickly corrected herself) who put too much attention into the body, if it was like that he would have hooked with Orihime or any other developed girl around his age, but Ichigo was too innocent and chivalrous in so many things. Yoruichi have tried, in her own unusual way, to unwind the boy of some of those self-restrictions when thinking about a girl, but lo and behold, nothing worked in the end and the boy still kept on most of his innocence. It was nothing to censure, it was one thing he liked about Ichigo.

Just like Urahara, Ichigo gave her respect, the older man have never tried to take advantage of his oldest friend, although unlike Kisuke the orange haired boy put much more force in the topic of being dressed, even when some of those times he had been peeking through his fingers. In conclusion, he liked girls, that much was truth.

"Look at me Ichigo… you scratched my heart, left your mark so deep that here I am, thinking on a way to snatch you; but who cares? I have never been one to be stopped by what other people think, I would be already dead if I did that… don't worry strawberry… I'll scratch your heart too" and for the first time in a week, the usual feline like smile appeared on her face, she was a shinigami on a mission.

/

For the last months Ichigo had tried to live a normal life, sadly that was an impossible thing considering that your closest friends could not only see spirits but could battle against the monsters they turned into.

It had been hard trying to fit, realizing later that he had never fitted anyway. He was too weird to be considered normal and he wanted the old times back, the purpose he had before while battling and protecting others, now he was nothing more than a normal, defenseless human being.

But that last week he had finally regained some hope, concentrating enough he could hear the voice of ghosts around him, only a little more and then he could finally see them and then… what?

Would he ever regain the power he once had? Ichigo didn't know, and neither is friends; sadly his own father was a lost case when it came to that too, his old man was a fool but incredibly powerful shinigami who was once a captain in Seireitei, sadly neither he nor Urahara were capable of giving him the answer he was hoping for, and like hell he was going through that hellish test to gain shinigami powers, one hollow inside him was more than enough.

Now that he thought about Urahara he remembered the other reason he had whenever he went into hat 'n clogs shop, one person better said; she had helped him when he needed the most, and then, like the cat she was she simply disappeared and Urahara wasn't opening his mouth about that, the last time he had went there, probably three days ago Urahara told him that Yoruichi was taking a very important decision and Ichigo would be the first one to know about her soon.

With that mystery over his head on top of his returning powers Ichigo walked in the direction of his school, soon he would probably leave the town behind and go for higher education, although it seemed that fate had other ideas for his so well planned future, a wrench into the machine if you would like to see it that way, and the wrench? A certain black cat that also went by the name of Shihouin Yoruichi.

When Ichigo almost reached the school deep into his thoughts he felt a very well known reiatsu followed by a pair of arms coming from behind and encircling his neck, the pressure on his back had a very definitive distinction of being part of a female body due to the softness; the color of the skin also left little doubt of who could be behind him.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing Yoru…" his mouth wasn't capable of finishing up what he tried to say due to the actions of the mouth of the princess. The kiss ended a few seconds later leaving Ichigo's mind completely short-circuited and the face looking the color of the other meaning of his name; for her part, Yoruichi was grinning like the cat that ate the canary or the strawberry in this case.

"Ne, missed me Ichigo?" She was more than ready to scratch his heart, and boy, what an adventure it was going to be.

_/_

_So, hope you liked this little work, and, in case you are wondering, this will have a one-shot continuation, **Manual of How to Crash a Date, **which, as you might see, has all the things needed for a good laugh._

_Anyway, hope to see you guys in the next work which is, Surprise me Not._

_If you like it or hate, have a suggestion or a certain idea of a pairing you want to see you can contact me or comment, I'm hear to listen and write._

_Meteor Beat._

_Logging Out. _


End file.
